§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how many acres of vacant, dormant, derelict, unused or underutilised land there are in England and Wales; and what percentage of this he estimates will have to be built on to achieve the Government's house-building targets by 2011; [133425]
(2) how many hectares of brownfield land in England and Wales are in (a) public ownership and (b) private ownership. [133426]
945W
§ Ms Beverley HughesEstimates from the National Land Use Database show that in 1998 there were an estimated 57,710 hectares of previously developed land for England that were unused or potentially available for redevelopment.
There are no Government targets for house-building.
There is a national target that by 2008, 60 per cent. of additional housing should be provided on previously developed land and through the conversions of existing buildings. Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing, published in March 2000, seeks to maximise the re-use of previously developed land and buildings.
It is not possible to estimate what proportion of previously developed land available in 1998 will be used for house-building as further amounts of land will become available for recycling.
Phase 1 of the National Land Use Database collected information on public and private ownership of brownfield land in England, for which no results have yet been published. My Department will undertake this analysis and I will write to the hon. Member when it becomes available.